Cousins

We've been in Wyoming for two weeks now, it has been an incredible adventure thus far. We have been settling into our tiny home while house hunting with much excitement. We try to get out as much as possible exploring our new town and surroundings. We head to Sheridan a couple of times a week and let the cousins play. I have dreamed of the kids growing up with their cousins for years and having it be a reality is even better than I had hoped.

The kids all get along very well, E gets along with the JW and JJ and plays well with them, but also joins in with Ky and does girly stuff with her, Ky loves having another girl to play with. Mr N is viewed as a "baby" by JW & JJ, so we are going to have to work a little harder to get him incorporated in their play. But he does play well with Ky. When they were at our house the other day Mr N and Ky were playing with the dollhouse, they would do something then look at each other and laugh hysterically. It was most precious.

Of course, being close to my beloved sister-in-law is quite delightful, we still spend hours on the phone together every week, but seeing her in person every week is absolutely amazing. It has been years since we lived in the same area, before either of us had kids. The kids getting to know each other better is ideal for all of us. I would remiss not to mention how great it is to see my big brother more than just occasionally. Playing board games, having dinner, going to assemblies, etc with my brother and his family is truly a delight. Making plans for summer camping trips with our oldest brother is exciting for us all. This is the closest we have all lived to each other since my oldest brother moved out in 1997. Good times ahead for all.

Yesterday we had Mr N's meeting scheduled with the local Child Development Center; however, a spring snow storm prevented the coordinator from being able to travel from Sheridan so it is now rescheduled for Friday. I'm really looking forward to what they have in mind for my little man. In our previous conversations it sounds like their program is much more in line with our hopes for Mr N.

Mr N's speech is still improving at a pretty good rate, he obviously, is still severely delayed but he is saying new words on his own and stringing more words together. Last night I was holding him and talking to him and he watched my lips then imitated the way I moved my mouth to pronounce the words. I've also noticed that he is improving the ending of words, he still drops the final consonant if it ends in a consonant. For example, if he says dog, cat, dad, the final consonant is dropped, but if he says baby, daddy, mommy, kitty, doggy he says the word much better and pronounces the last consonant before the y. Hopefully all of that makes sense.

I gave Mr N a much needed haircut yesterday, which is the equivalent of torture for him. But yesterday he didn't even scream or cry when I got the clippers out, he held his head still for me as I started and didn't start getting upset until I was almost done. The crying didn't ensue until I was completely done and cleaning up all of the hair, the bath that followed caught most of his tears.